It was late June of 1984 and I wasn't quite ten years old. Summer was early and the heat kept most folks inside their closed up houses during the day and out on their porches and stoops once the sun went down and the evening breeze came up to greet the night. Only Mr. Cooper up on Chatterly Hill had air conditioning in his house and nobody ever dared to knock on his door no matter how hot it was. You could be sweating from your eyeballs before you'd go near that place. Marcus and Michael, the Gregson brothers, used to say that house was haunted by Mr. Cooper's dog and he stood guard at the gate, especially when it was hot, to keep people from trying to steal all his cool, bought air.

When nights got so hot that we couldn't sleep, Daddy and I would lay down on the cool grass in our front yard. He would sing "My Girl" to me while we stared up at the stars and ate ice-cream sandwiches. Then he would tell me for the thousandth time, that on the day I was born, he heard that song on the radio just before I arrived and he knew that I was going to be a girl. Secretly, I blamed The Temptations for me being born a girl because if my daddy hadn't heard that stupid song, I would have been a boy and not had so much trouble making friends.

That was the summer that Charlie Turner moved to town. First time I saw him was when my daddy sent me to Gleason's market for some milk. I was waiting my turn at the counter when Charlie and his mama came through the door. Charlie tripped and fell and I couldn't help but giggle. For that very reason, my daddy banned me from his office because every time I walked through the door and saw any sick or hurt people, I would start laughing so hard that my stomach would hurt and tears would be running down my face. Daddy always apologized and explained that it was a condition I had and I couldn't help it. I don't ever remember having the condition when mama was still here.

My daddy is a doctor and had been the only doctor the town of Finley had known since Doc Finley, the man who's family had founded the town, had dropped dead of a heart attack ten years prior. I never met Doc Finley on account that he died before I was born. He was my daddy's mentor and is the reason my name is Anna Finley Flanders. My mama used to say that I'd never forget where I came from because all I'd have to do is say my name and know just where my heart was.

I suppose that was the reason Charlie didn't like me much at first. When I

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